Thursday, July 21, 2005

Artnet.com

...All of these pieces seemed to be at home at the event, nicely straddling the Scope Hamptons directive to expose viewers to something resembling a new experience and the need for nifty collectable objects. But it was outside, on the sweaty, sunlit lawn, that two special projects most directly thematized the spirit of the day.

The first was Charles Truett’s CBTSA (an acronym for "Charles Badgett Truett Space Administration"), a tent in which a data collection station offered you the chance to put an item from your pocket into a plastic bag along with a description of its significance -- all for the good of pseudo-anthropology! A table displayed items that had been previously collected in small plastic boxes, including pen caps, lost teeth, lucky silver dollars and the inevitable empty condom wrapper. In a commercial art fair centered around flattering the high-class visitor’s sense of himself as smart, this piece cut out the middle man and put the public’s self-love on direct display.

And finally, there was Lifeboat, a project presented by Mary Mattingly and Paul Middendorf "providing education, training, and security for the Hamptons and other Micronations." Walking the fine line between cutting edge institutional critique and New Yorker cartoon, the artists presented a miniature Hamptons in the form of a fully stocked pool complete with a tower of Evian water, American flag and martinis at the ready -- leaving it nicely ambiguous whether this weekend the artists had taken over the Hamptons, or the Hamptons had taken over the artists.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Friday, July 15, 2005

New York Magazine: Art Goes to the Beach

Where to join the gallery crowd on the East End.1. ~scopeHamptonsThe roving art fair touches down in Southampton, wooing well-heeled collectors with contemporary works from some 40 exhibitors plus a full calendar of films, parties, and other special events. Look out for the reality-show-inspired Lifeboat-Hamptons, a performance featuring “a group of artists transforming their bodies into well-oiled tanning machines.”• Hampton Hall, 230 Elm St., nr. Pulaski St., Southampton (see scope-art.com for complete schedule, exhibitor list, and information on parties and performances). 7/15-7/17. KAREN ROSENBERG

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Put the FUN back into FUNdraising!

Micro|Scope cordially invites you to an After Party & BenefitCocktails at a Private Southampton GardenSaturday, July 16th|8:00 to 10:00 pm|9 Hampton Street, Southampton

Gather with us at poolside to celebrate life, liberty, and social awareness.Art Installations and Performances by: Agata Oleksiak|G-77|Milosz Koziej|Raphaele Shirley and more... Live Music & DJ: CounterIntelligence|Curated by Renée N. Vara

In honor of Micro|Scope—a performance piece and social experiment presented by artists and curators sponsored by ScopeHamptons Art Fair. To benefit the Center for Sociability—a faux organization to promote social awareness amongst privileged youth through the arts.“Putting the FUN Back into FUNdraising,”

Friday, July 08, 2005

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

A Well Tanned Fittness Machine

I am entering my third week of my intensive workout schedule and I am feeling rather good about the situation. To start off with I teamed up with my trainer Jonathan Leach. He is of a large build and spent his earlier days involved in wrestling. He stands at about 7ft and speaks to me in a rather deep booming voice. We sat down at first and discussed our game plan. I told him what areas I felt needed improving. It was from here that he was able to show me what weights we would be using and the proper lifting procedure. We talked about how one must not only work out, but reach a meditative state of mind. You have to focus on not only the lifting but meditate on the muscle it is you are isolating in order to meet your ultimate goal. After you have mastered this you will be able to forget about the movement of lifting and it will become a natural aspect of the workout. This leaves you with a pinpointed lifting session, which is what you want to look your best. All in all I bike quite often for leisure and feel that I am in pretty good shape. I am looking for a nicely chiseled body which would look good in the summer time and yet don’t want to be perceived as over powering. All in all a summer body that will look good with a nice tan.

We started in on the workout with a visit to the workout bench, my new friend. The benching procedure I embark on will start to work out my Deltoids as well as my Pectoralis Major, while giving my Triceps and Biceps a mild experience. I did two sets of 12 with a stretch in between, although now I have advanced into power lifting, which I have cranked it up to 5-6 sets with the maximum amount of weight on the bar. This is quite the workout. Usually by the last set I am making lots of strange noises as I exhale. My arms start to get wobbly and my trainer shouts at me until I finish the motion. He helps me with the bar, slaps me on the back and hands me my Performance Drink for a nice cool down. I then sit down at the end of the bench and meditate before I begin my Preacher Curls. The preacher curls are fun and I can usually lift a good amount of weight. This exercise focuses on my biceps. It’s a slow motion as all the other exercises and I am able to look directly at the muscles as I work them out. These are followed by hammer curls, dead lifts, squats, crunches, power lifting, and a nice cool down with 75 push ups.

For the training I bought a 1lb container of Shakelee Performance Maximum Endurance Sports Drink. This is what I drink during my workout, its pretty tasty with a natural orange flavor. According to the information on the back, a team of Daedalus athletes, who broke many world records for pedaling a plane for 72 miles, were able to use this drink as there only source of energy. The were able to keep up there performance for up to six ours, that’s the energy equivalent of running three marathons back to back. Wow. I only work out for about two hours but I would say I could definitely feel it. When I am done I usually stretch out for another 15minutes, do some jogging around the block and head home for a after work out shake. In a blender I use 1/2 cup of Shakelee Physique Workout Maximizer Supplement powder with cold milk. It has a rather thick banana flavor which after a while can be too much. I blend it up with 2% milk, something that is not too fatty yet still health conscious. Every other day I mix fruit in the shake for a bit of variety. I have one of these shakes right after my workout and another two hours later. With this routine I am able to maximize my muscle recovery for both strength and endurance. The formula helps me to create optimum conditions for the anabolic or rebuilding response following regular exercise. As my trainer says along with the good people of Shakelee, “ An enhanced anabolic state can result in increase muscle mass and power for strength athletes and faster glycogen resynthesis ( energy return) for endurance athletes. Depending on the workout I sometimes drink a third shake just to make sure. With this schedule I can definitely see some results in my pecs and Deltoid areas.